Crossed (6 page)

“Emma, he’s a grown man who can make his own decisions. And he seemed fine. Plus he works for you, so he’s technically not a stranger. The robbery triggered something and he really appeared normal. In fact, he was charming and protective and so hot.” I felt my entire body slide down in the booth we were sitting in.

“It sure didn’t look like it when I dropped him off. Do you know how difficult it was to get him to your salon? He wouldn’t move a muscle, Grace. There’s a reason these people need to rehabilitate. I knew Hunter before and he was not Hunter yesterday.” Why did Emma all of a sudden sound animated? I could swear she looked as if she were practicing a speech for an acting class.

“Aren’t you listening to me? Whatever happened to him, it was gone as soon as he became Rambo at the salon and saved me. And he sure didn’t seem that difficult or dangerous last night and in the morning hours.” I bit my lip.

Emma’s mouth dropped open. I could see the wheels spinning in her head as she began putting the pieces together.

“You slept with him? Grace, that’s… that’s… fast.”

“Emma, it was unbelievable. I… I hadn’t since Marcus. And it was so easy to give in to Hunter.”

“Grace, if you say he’s the one I swear the next time he’s there I’m gonna march right into your apartment, rip him out of your bed and interrogate him.”

What was she talking about? For the first time in a long time I was certain that Emma was exaggerating.

As much as I wanted to shout “Yes, he’s the one,” I kept my mouth shut. Having Emma barge in to see this naked perfection was the last thing I wanted. I guess living three floors apart sometimes did have consequences. And maybe she was right. Emma had been the right dose of reality I usually needed to wake up and see that the guy next to me wasn’t worthy. Yet I hadn’t slept with any since Marcus had passed. Didn’t I deserve a little happiness in my life? Even if it was just for one night?

“I’m not saying a word until I’m sure.” I pulled my hand across my lips as if zipping them up.

“Wow, well then you should thank me.” She smiled a fake smile, waiting for my gratitude.

“I guess. Thank you. Even if he doesn’t call again, last night was worth it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, you should know. You’re switching guys like disposable gloves.”

“Yeah, but not all disposable gloves are meant to be used.”

“Good, at least you’re not sleeping with all of them. Emma, I’m worried about you.”

“Grace, I promise there’s nothing to worry about. If there were, I would tell you.”

“Promise?” I drew out my pinkie.

“Promise.” She hooked her little finger into mine.

“And you’re sure he’s all there?” Emma pointed to her head, spinning her finger in tiny circles.

For now, I was willing to take the chance that I was actually safer with Hunter than on my own. This guy who tried to rob the salon knew my name. He even seemed cozy with me. If he found me at the salon, he could find me at home, and there was no way in hell I was going to stay here on my own. I’d been secretly praying that Hunter would come back to the apartment, or at least call. And while he typed his cell into mine, I didn’t even give him my number and wondered whether he had it.

“Yes, Em. I’m sure.”

My friend suddenly perked up, almost making me spill my coffee. “Do you know what day it is today?”

Shit! What did she come up with now?

“Saturday.” I slouched in my seat. I preferred it when it was my Saturday for fun, not Emma’s. “And it’s your turn. Hit me with it.”

Ever since we both got out of the hospital a year ago we’d promised ourselves not to waste life away and took turns thinking of the craziest stunts we could. Emma’s family wasn’t too pleased with the idea and her brothers continued pursuing her, trying to stop her. As for my family—well, although I had one, I wouldn’t exactly call it a family. I’d been estranged from them for over ten years. My doctor mother let me be as of a young age, choosing to stay with my lawyer father whose business, I was certain, wasn’t anything close to legal. While it seemed I’d been ostracized from the family, at least I’d been able to follow my own dream and open up the salon. My three older brothers and one younger shared the business with my father. We were all born within six years of one another, and sometimes I wondered what the hell my parents were thinking when they humped like rabbits year after year. Wasn’t it more important to have a healthy family, like Emma’s? Well, the Wagners were anything but healthy and I was glad I hadn’t seen them in years.

Emma was scrolling on her phone again, chuckling under her breath.

“Emma? What. Did. You. Plan?” The devious look in her eyes was enough to give me the creeps and make my stomach turn. Whatever she had planned, it couldn’t be good.

“You’re dressed perfectly. Come.” She shot off her seat and left her coffee. “I’m driving.”

Three hours later I was sporting a parachute on my back and goggles that looked like two jar bottoms.

“Emma, you know I’m afraid of heights!”

“This is for last month.” She screamed over the noise of the engines and wind gusts, which I could see pass through the open door only a few feet away. I didn’t dare look out, and if I could I’d glue my ass to this seat and not get off until we were back down on the ground, I would. There was no way that diving with the sharks was worse than this! Emma seemed to actually enjoy swimming in the ocean. I promised myself that if we landed and I was still alive, I would think of the most wicked dare I could to get back at her.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Grace?”

“Hunter? Hunter, you gotta help me.”

“What’s wrong? Where are you?”

“I’m about to jump out of a fucking plane!” I screamed. “Make them land!”

“Why did you get on it in the first place? Are you with Emma?” He laughed. “Because her brothers just cut our meeting short and shot out…”

“Listen, if you ever want to be in my bed again, you will find a way to get me out of this.”

There was silence on the other line as I lost the signal.

“Come on, Grace. A deal’s a deal and we’re skydiving today! What did Marcus say to you before he died?”

Live it up, Grace. Live like each day were your last.
I remembered him saying this as he lay on top of me, right after the blast that took his life. He saved me that day. Moments after Marcus proposed at a restaurant by the harbor he worked at, he used his body to protect mine from a propane explosion off a passing ship. The shards of glass cut through his body. His back was shattered and Marcus lost too much blood to be saved. Emma’s childhood sweetheart died that day as well. We met at the hospital and bonded over our loss. We’d been best friends ever since.

“And you promise to do anything I ask of you?”

“You know I do.” She made the sign of a cross across her chest. “I would never let my best friend down.”

Great, she’s blackmailing me into plummeting to my death.
“If I survive this, we’re getting drunk.”

I stood up and grasped Emma’s hand, digging my fingers deep into her flesh, hoping to embed a permanent marking of my nails there.

“I love you.” She squeezed my hand before uncoiling my fingers. “Now jump!”

I wasn’t sure when or how I stepped off that plane, but it was getting smaller and smaller and the ground was getting closer.

“I hate you!” I screamed, trying to remember what I’d been taught in the lessons. This wasn’t the first time Emma tried to get me skydiving. Nor the second. We’d gone through the courses and instructions a handful of times, but I’d chickened out every single time I’d heard the engines revved up. What made me get on the plane this time? Blackmail. Pure and devious coercion by none other than my best friend. Emma threatened to call my brothers, whom I didn’t talk to, and tell them about Hunter. I felt my jaw tense at the thought. I didn’t want anything to do with them, and she knew it. Without a doubt I would find a way to pay her back for this. What would my brothers do? Kill him—possibly. Or worse, tangle him into one of their schemes? That was an option too. I didn’t want to know the kind of businesses Cash, Ace, Axel, and Scar ran. They hid under my father’s legal belt, but I knew they were up to something shady. They’d been wanting for me to come back to the family for years. In fact, I hadn’t spoken to them in years and the only reason Emma knew about them at all was because Cash drove me home from the hospital after my accident. I’d sworn her to secrecy and made her promise not to tell anyone about them. Lives depended on it. Hence my different last name, Brooks, which I took after my mother.

And now, flying through the air and thinking about them, I wondered whether I should have called—you know, just in case I died today. Would it have mattered? Would they have crossed the street to see me and say hello? Nope, I didn’t want that either. It was best that I stayed away.

As the air pushed against my body and I spread my arms out to feel its full pressure, the freedom of being lost in my own thoughts was unbelievable. It was just me and the world. No one to interrupt my thoughts and no one to disturb my fate for the next sixty seconds, maybe thirty now. I was the one who had to pull the cord to live. It was up to me to survive now, and having that kind of power to change your own life felt unbelievably fulfilling. What if I just fell? Would I see Marcus on the other side?

Something tore at my heart. A feeling I hadn’t had in a long time. As much as I’d wanted to join my dead fiancé in the afterlife during the past year, this time, there was an urgency inside me to maybe give life another shot—a real one. “Pull it!” someone yelled from above. I think it was Emma’s panicked voice.

I tugged on the handle at my chest and felt a strong draft upward that slowed my momentum. The parachute fluttered above my head before fully opening, changing my fall to a soft glide. This wasn’t that bad after all. I could do this.

The field was getting closer to my feet. I got ready the way I’d practiced, and the moment my feet touched the ground I continued the momentum of the flight with a small run before coming to a full, perfectly executed stop. The buzz roaming through my body was unbelievable. It was like driving a race car and landing an airplane all at once—not that I’d done either of these, but I could definitely imagine doing so. I let the chute loose behind me and felt the ground shake below me. My knees gave out, and I began falling to the ground. Except instead of hitting the soil my body was caught by strong arms. I looked into the gorgeous eyes of the man who had rocked my body and mind over and over again the previous night.

“Are you all right?” Hunter held on to my full weight. I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh or do both at the same time, and I simply jumped into his arms and pressed my lips to his just to make sure I wasn’t dead.

“You’re here.”

“You had me concerned.”

“How did you get here so fast?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Is everything a long story with you?”

“Pretty much.” He gave me the most adorable smile I had ever seen and kissed the tip of my nose. By this time Emma had landed a few feet away and was running toward me.

“Are you mad, Grace? Why did you wait so long to pull the chute?”

“I didn’t know I had.”

“Well, ten more seconds and I would have been scraping you off the ground.”

“Maybe you should have thought about that before you blackmailed me to jump.”

“How else was I going to get you to do so?”

We were both screaming at each other. We’d never fought, nor raised our voices the way we had today.

“What’s wrong with you, Emma? You know I love doing all the crazy shit with you, but this… going about it the way you did… it’s just wrong!”

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong! It’s the fact that you keep on looking for
the one
and you don’t see the life that’s running ahead of you because no one will ever compare to Marcus.”

I raised my hand to slap her but was stopped midway when she caught my wrist. Of course she would have. Emma was a kick-ass woman with black belts and training I’d never seen another woman possess. I pulled my hand back to my mouth, covering it. The pressure collecting behind my eyes was about to burst. How could she go there?

“Okay, ladies, I think it’s time to go to your separate corners.” Hunter stepped between us.

Stepping up on my toes I looked over Hunter’s shoulder and pointed my finger at her. “You just wait until next weekend!” This must have been how the devil sounded.

“Are you gonna make me hand-feed the sharks?”

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet, but you won’t like it,” I barked back.

“Okay, I think we should take a minute now.” Hunter was acting like a referee, standing between us. “Emma, Julian’s waiting for you in the car.”

“Great,” she mumbled under her breath. “My babysitter is here. I’ll call you.”

I nodded in reply. We both knew I wouldn’t stay mad at her for long. I couldn’t. She was my best friend.

“Come on, pretty lady. Let’s get you out of here. We need to get rid of some of that tension of yours.” As my imagination began picturing him between my legs, buried to his root, he draped his arm over my shoulder and led me to his car. I prayed his definition of relieving tension was the same as mine, and not another flight in a plane.

C
HAPTER
6

“I didn’t really expect you to come,” I said as Hunter weaved through the streets back to the city in his charcoal Aston Martin. I wasn’t a big car person, but since it was the same one my brother Cash had driven when I last saw him, I recognized it instantly. I felt an odd tug at my heart, for a split moment wishing I could have been closer to my family.

Hunter laughed off my comment, shaking his head as if it was funny. What was so funny about it?

“Why do you do this crazy stuff if you don’t want to? I mean, I’m sure as your best friend Emma wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I’ve known her for a long time and can’t picture her really blackmailing you.”